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It is common knowledge that getting any vitamin or mineral is best done by consuming foods that have what you need in them. Since not all foods have biotin in them – which is stating the obvious, I know – getting the right ones in your diet is vital to making sure you get enough biotin.
Biotin is so important to your body, and not something you should ever skimp on. As a vitamin that isn’t held onto by your body, water-soluble vitamins cannot be stored, it is something you must take on a daily basis.
Why Biotin Is Something You Need
Biotin has a number of different names it can go by. Besides biotin, it is a B vitamin – B7, to be exact – and it is also called Vitamin H as well. Whatever name you call biotin by, it plays a lot of different roles in your body.
For starters, biotin, as a B vitamin, helps with your energy. This vitamin is also a component of some important enzymes. Specifically, biotin is part of the enzymes that break down things like fats, carbohydrates, and even amino acids. This can be hugely helpful for your digestive system.
Biotin is something that doctors can recommend, not only if your blood test shows you are deficient in it. They may recommend biotin to help with things like hepatitis and neuropathy, which is a nerve condition.
The reason biotin can help with nerves is because its other function is to let your cells communicate with each other. It even plays a minor role in making new red blood cells, which is why it is needed, especially when you are injured.
On that note, biotin can also be used to treat things like brittle nails, and it is very good for your hair and skin. Finally, biotin may also be part of what helps monitor your genes.
The Top Dozen Biotin Foods
There are lots of weird or uncommon foods that have biotin in them. However, I find myself likelier to actually eat foods that I am already familiar with. You might be the same. So, my list of the top 12 biotin foods may not be the top overall, but they are the ones that you might like the best.
Many of these biotin-rich foods are probably ones that you are already eating. If so, you can give yourself an excuse to eat more of the foods you like. Blame in on the biotin, and claim you were craving it!
#1. Egg
Eggs are an extremely common food that almost everyone eats. It is hard to avoid things that have egg of some type in them. There are just so many ways to prepare eggs between scrambling, frying, baking, frying, boiling, and poaching, and that is not even all the cookies, cakes, and more that eggs are a crucial part of.
The good thing about the prevalence of eggs is that they have things like iron, Vitamin B, and, most importantly, biotin. Eggs are also an exceptional source of protein, which is one of the reasons it is so popular for breakfast.
The key thing about eggs to remember is that you need to fully cook the egg to get the biotin. Uncooked eggs have something called avidin in them. This avidin is primarily found in the whites and prevents you from absorbing the nutrients as well, including the biotin.
And that is not mentioning the salmonella risks. So, cook eggs well, and maybe even find a way to skip the white and just have yolk. It is the yolk that you want the most anyway, and eating meringue will not help you with getting biotin.
#2. Soybean
Soybeans are a legume that has a lot of good things in them, including biotin. In fact, it only takes about 150 grams of soybeans in order to get your daily recommended amount. This makes soybeans one of the highest sources of biotin you can get.
However, I did not list soybeans first because they are somewhat controversial. I myself only have soybean as a rare thing because of the genetic modifications that soybeans have gone through. Even with this, soybeans are still rich in nutrients and a good source of protein that is vegan, among other things.
Also, soybeans are extremely easy to add more of to your diet, as it comes in all sorts of forms. Just some of these are soy milk, soy meat substitutes, soy sauce, and a wide variety of other things. The milk can be poured over cereal every once in a while, and the soy sauce is easy to add onto salads and with rice.
There are even natto and tempeh, which are fermented soy products that offer you additional gut health. So, though soybeans don’t fit in every diet, they are a great option for biotin for those who can eat it.
#3. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are probably almost as popular as eggs are and are found in a wide variety of foods. Though they aren’t one of the highest in biotin, tomatoes do have a reasonable amount of it.
It would take far too many tomatoes to get your biotin solely from this one food – more specifically, well over 10 cups of it for your daily amount – but you can add a little more tomato to your diet for a little help here.
Things like tomato puree and tomato paste are slightly more concentrated forms. Just eating things like spaghetti, tomato soup, and certain casseroles will make sure you get tomato in your diet. Ketchup doesn’t have as much tomato as you might think, but it still has some, and most like it.
Cherry tomatoes or sliced ones are easily added to almost any type of salad. Finally, if you like the taste of raw tomato – not everyone does, but some do – you can eat fresh tomatoes sprinkled with a little salt as a snack all by itself.
#4. Milk
Milk may not be the highest in biotin, but it earns its right to be on this list. For starters, the biotin in milk is not linked to its fat content, meaning you get just as much biotin from full fat as from low fat. Milk is used in so many foods that it is hard to avoid and easy to drink.
It is in puddings, many desserts, is poured over cereal, eaten with cookies and cake, put into ice cream just to name a few. More milk is easy to add to your diet, as just drinking a glass of chocolate milk is more milk.
Milk products like half-and-half also have biotin in them. In fact, milk products like cheese have even more biotin in them than milk does, some more so than others. The biotin level in cheese varies not only by the type of cheese but also the way it is produced.
Still, all cheese has at least a little biotin in it. Cheese is on chips, in crackers, on pizza, in many breakfasts with eggs, and who doesn’t like some on salads. Some types of cheese are often eaten as a snack all by themselves or with crackers.
Then, yogurts also have biotin in them as well, particularly greek yogurt, which is richer in other nutrients as well. Yogurts are easy to have a very healthy snack with a little fruit. In short, the uses for milk are quite limitless, and so are the ways you can get more of it.
#5. Nuts
Most nuts have at least some biotin in them. Almonds is one of the top ones here, with a couple of large handfuls having all the biotin you need. Almonds are also considered one of the richest nuts when it comes to nutrients.
Other nuts have biotin in smaller amounts. Second place for this is walnuts, followed by the other nuts, including pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, pistachios, acorns, etc. With so many nuts to choose from, it can be hard to pick which one to try.
They can be added to salads, put in desserts, used as a nut butter in place of peanut butter, and much more. They are often roasted, salted, covered in chocolate, seasoned some other way, added to trail mixes, and more.
#6. Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes can be extremely tasty if you cook them correctly. You probably eat some sweet potatoes, if at no other time then as sweet potato pie around thanksgiving. This root has a substantial amount of biotin in it, and most people like the taste.
You can get quite creative with your sweet potatoes, more so than you might think. It can be added to stir-fry, put in casseroles, tortillas, or omelets, eaten baked by itself, or as sweet potato fries. It even goes well with BBQ in the place of a baked potato and can be baked to make veggie chips.
You’d be surprised just what all you can do with sweet potatoes. Though not the cheapest, these roots are also not the most expensive, are easy to grow yourself if you want to, but are easy to find in most stores that have a produce section.
#7. Peanuts
Most people think of peanut as a nut, even those who are aware that it is actually a legume. Peanuts are a source of both protein and fiber, as well as biotin and other nutrients. In fact, out of the legume family, peanuts have one of the highest amounts of biotin.
Even better, peanuts are fairly cheap and easy to find in all sorts of forms. You probably already eat peanut butter sometimes in the form of PB&Js, and you may even snack on the nuts too. Peanut butter is in thins like Reece’s cups, protein bars, and a number of other things.
Peanuts can be salted, roasted, covered in chocolate, seasoned, and more. Any of these peanut options can be sprinkled on salads, added to some deserts for a little crunch, eaten as a snack, either by itself or with dried fruit, or added to your favorite trail mix.
Unfortunately, peanut allergies are one of the most common food allergies, so not everyone can add peanuts to their diet. Some people try to avoid legumes, making peanuts not an option for them either.
#8. Salmon
Salmon is one of the most nutrient-dense types of fish you can eat. It is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and, you guessed it, biotin.
If you don’t usually eat a lot of salmon, you may not be aware of all the possibilities of it. Salmon can be cooked in many, many different ways, added to casseroles, put onto salads, and also be eaten with eggs. Salmon is even canned, or you can get it fresh or frozen.
Smoked salmon goes very well with crackers and other things as an appetizer, or with toast as a breakfast. Salmon jerky, though a bit harder to find, is also possible to get as well. Whatever type of salmon you get, try to go for the wild caught instead of the farmed, as the wild has more biotin in it.
#9. Mushrooms
While you are probably familiar with only a few types of mushrooms, there are actually hundreds of edible mushrooms. Button mushrooms are found in most stores, but it is maitake mushrooms that have the most biotin.
Shitake mushrooms are on the other end of the spectrum, having less biotin than button mushrooms. Also, wild mushrooms unsurprisingly have more biotin in them than ones commercially grown. Mushrooms can be dried, canned, or fresh.
Some people love mushrooms, but even those who don’t can usually slip some into sauces and gravies. Larger mushrooms can be stuffed with all kinds of things, and small ones can be sautéed for salads.
#10. Yeast
Yeast may not be something you have ever heard of eating, other than to know it is in breads. However, there is more to yeast than that. Between active yeast and nutritional yeast, the latter is used more for vegans and has a slightly nutty taste as well as much more biotin.
Besides making bread, yeast also is used to brew certain types of beer, some non-dairy cheeses, and a few other things. Because of the taste of nutritional yeast, some people find it actually tastes good to use it as a type of flavoring to sprinkle over salads, pizza, or other things.
A little yeast goes a long way, and it shouldn’t be used by those with yeast infections for obvious reasons. Most can include yeast in your diet, and it is something you likely haven’t thought to add to your diet yet.
#11. Avocadoes
Avocados are something that everyone knows is good for you, rich in nutrients, and most people like guacamole. True, you’d need to eat several avocados to get your daily amount of biotin. However, avocadoes are so creamy they can be added to a lot of things.
There is avocado toast, you can have it with almost any salad, put it in burritos, or wraps, and even add it to smoothies or eat it by itself with a little salt. Avocados are a bit expensive though, though they are easy enough to find, but it is pretty easy to add just a little to your diet.
#12. Liver
Liver is by far not a popular food for most people. In fact, many think liver to be quite disgusting. However, organ meats are extremely nutrient dense in many vitamins, minerals, and other things. Liver is no exception to this, having a very good amount of biotin in it, which makes sense if you consider that biotin is found primarily in your liver.
Now, how much biotin you get from liver will depend on what type of liver you are consuming. Beef liver has a fair amount of biotin in it, but it is actually chicken liver that is richer in it. It only takes about 5 ounces of chicken liver to get your full daily amount of biotin.
Considering a portion the size of a deck of cards is about 3 ounces of liver, 5 ounces is not all that much. However, any amount of liver can feel like a lot if you don’t like the taste. So, adding liver to your diet can be a bit tricky.
For most, adding liver is best done in small amounts in foods that have meaty tastes. Meatloaf, for example, is not likely to taste noticeably different if a little liver is added to it. Small amounts of liver can even richen hamburger patties.
Homemade broths and stocks can be made with liver and other organ meats, which get strained out at the end in case you don’t want to eat the liver itself for whatever reason. Still, though liver is fairly easy to add, it is not for everyone, which is why it is at the bottom of the list. It is the sheer amount of biotin in it that earned it its place here regardless of that fact.
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A Few Honorable Mentions
There a plenty of other biotin-rich foods, should none of these sound appealing to you. First, sunflower seeds are an easy snack and can be sprinkled on salads and other things. However, the amount of biotin in these tends to vary widely based on the type of sunflower and how the seeds were processed.
Other types of fish besides salmon do have biotin in them too, just not as much. Tuna, for example, only has about 1/10th the amount of biotin per serving on top of having more mercury. However, tuna is also less expensive and has a somewhat milder flavor, making it easier to add to more foods.
Other fish like halibut are also good to include, and other legumes besides peanuts are good too. Peas, beans, and lentils don’t have as much biotin as peanuts, but they do have some.
Carrots don’t really have a lot of biotin in them, but they do have some. More importantly, carrots are a very common food that can be used bot raw and cooked in so many different ways. Carrots are also pretty inexpensive and easy to get.
The same goes for broccoli, though not as many people are a fan of the taste. Next are spinach and swiss chard, which are rich both in biotin and a lot of other things. Onion has perhaps even less biotin, but it does have a little and is easier for most people to add to their diet.
Finally, some fruits have biotin in them as well. Strawberries, bananas, and raspberries are the top ones here. Oats are another food that has a small amount of biotin and can be easily added to your diet. Granolas, cereals, and some desserts have oats in them.
Final Thoughts
While all vitamins and minerals are important to get in your diet, some are more important than others. Biotin is certainly one of the ones that is vital. So, try adding more of these foods to your diet, which you doubtless already eat some of anyway.
Because of how many foods biotin is in, it is rare to get a biotin deficiency. Still, remember that biotin is water-soluble, so you should be eating at least one of these foods every day. So, write out a menu and see how many of these biotin foods you can fit on your menu if you think you might be low on it.
